As for little Qingfu, he absolutely had to beg and plead, promising not to wet his pants or cry, before they even signed him up.

They call it "broadening one's horizons."

In fact, all of this was because the Zhao family's economic conditions had improved. Before, not a single member of the large family had attended a private school.

The economic base determines the superstructure; this principle applies both in ancient and modern times.

Not long after the New Year, Ruyilou sent the Huang family their share of the wine and fruit wine profits.

They took away a total of 700 jin of wine and 300 jin of fruit wine.

The owner of Ruyilou is truly a genius; he sold his wine for a whopping 1,000 taels per catty, while his fruit wine was much cheaper, selling for only 100 taels per catty.

A total of 292,000 taels of silver were sent to the Huang family.

The Zhao family was unaware of this money, or even knew nothing about it.

After all, all the wine was brewed by Zhao Qingyan alone in the valley, and when it came time to sell it, it was Huang who arranged for someone to negotiate the deal.

Zhao Qingyan originally wanted to share the spoils equally with Huang, but Huang did not agree.

Under Zhao Qingyan's persistent pleading, she gave Huang 20,000 taels of silver as a filial offering, for which Huang was very satisfied.

With money in her pocket, Huang Shi had no worries. Having 20,000 taels of silver in her private savings, she could easily hand over the 5 taels of silver that the young boy needed as a guarantor for the county examination without batting an eye.

In order to ensure that all ten men in her family could participate in the county examination, Huang went to Qingyang County in advance and spent ten taels of silver to rent a courtyard near the examination site.

For no other reason than that, in the two weeks leading up to the exam, all the guesthouses near the exam venue were fully booked.

With more people come more trouble; who knows what might happen?

Zhao Qianci, in particular, had incredibly bad luck in the exams.

Something always goes wrong during exams. This time, Huang went to great lengths to ensure Zhao Qianci could take the exam smoothly.

Prepare the accommodation and food and drinks in advance. Zhao Qingyan has prepared these things in advance with her granddaughter and put them into the space.

They prepared everything imaginable, including exam baskets, writing brushes, inkstones, oilcloth, sheepskin coats without inner linings, food, and boiled water.

They were terrified that something might go wrong in the exam room.

After everything was arranged, on the third day of the second lunar month, Huang and Zhao Qingyan personally escorted the family members who were taking the exams to the county.

For safety reasons, everyone checked their own belongings before leaving home, then Mr. Huang checked them again, and then I checked mine.

As for the mule carts and horse-drawn carriages, they were all inspected and found to be in good condition, and the main force set off.

To protect Zhao Qianci, this unlucky guy, the three strong women, Huang Shi, Zhao Minggeng, and Zhao Qingyan, rode in the same car with him, fearing that something unexpected might happen.

To avoid accidents.

Zhao Minggeng carried a bow and arrows on his back, Huang Shi held a wood-chopping knife, and Zhao Qingyan carried nothing, but she could pull out a deadly weapon at any time.

Even so, the bodyguards were terrified the whole way.

Everything had been going smoothly until we reached the forest between Wufang Town and Qingyang County, when an unexpected incident occurred.

A group of about seven or eight wild boars suddenly darted out of the woods.

Their target was the carriage Zhao Qianci was riding in. As for the mule cart ahead, these wild boars seemed blind and collectively failed to see it.

Although brown sugar has a spirit, it is still a horse after all. Upon seeing a wild boar, it let out a neigh and ran away.

While sitting on the carriage shaft, Zhao Minggeng quickly comforted Hongtang, then drew his bow and shot an arrow at the oncoming wild boar.

Hearing the commotion, Zhao Qingyan saw that the wild boar was getting closer and closer. She told Huang Shi to protect her grandfather, held onto the carriage wall, and once outside the carriage, she told Hongtang to slow down a bit before quickly jumping out.

The moment he jumped out of the car, he found himself holding a large machete.

As soon as Zhao Qingyan landed, a wild boar approached her.

Using the force of jumping off the car, he cleaved the head of the wild boar in half with a single stroke of his machete.

The second one ran forward, then the third... and soon the wild boars collapsed and died.

Although wild boar meat is a bit tougher, it's more valuable than domestic pig meat and has more meat.

Huang had been observing Zhao Qingyan's battle from inside the car. Seeing that all the wild boars had been taken down, she told Zhao Minggeng to stop the car.

It would be a waste not to collect so much game. Seeing that no one was around, Zhao Qingyan was about to use her mind to collect it when she heard the clattering of hooves.

Zhao Qingyan was so frightened that she broke out in a cold sweat. Luckily, she hadn't moved that fast.

If someone sees you while you're hunting wild boar, should you kill them to cover it up, or should you silence them?

It seems we need to be more careful from now on. We've been living in comfort for too long and are losing our basic vigilance.

With so many wild boars, it was impossible to collect them all, and it would be a waste to throw them away. So Zhao Qingyan stood there.

Hopefully, I can wait until the passersby have left before dragging the wild boars into the woods and storing them in my space.

Soon a group of people came running over. The man at the head was dressed in black brocade, with a cold face, as if someone owed him eight million taels of silver.

When I came from a distance, I saw a little girl with all sorts of dark things in front of her, and I thought she had encountered some kind of robber.

Upon approaching and seeing a pile of wild boar carcasses, the group was taken aback.

One boar, two tigers, three bears—wild boars are incredibly powerful fighters.

Even skilled fighters like them would try their best to avoid this thing.

Look at the state of these bodies on the ground now. They were all killed instantly. The most outrageous ones were split in two, either by the head, neck, or body.

What power this is!

The way this group of people were looking at Zhao Qingyan now was all wrong, especially since blood was still dripping from the machete she was holding.

Normally, if they see someone blocking the road, this group of people will simply ask the person to move aside.

No one dared to speak, including the man in brocade robes who was leading the group.

He wasn't afraid, but rather he preferred to avoid trouble, given his limited time.

I don't know what kind of temper that girl has. If she says something that offends her, and then she turns my whole team up like wild boars, I'll be in big trouble.

Just as the man in brocade robes was about to say something, Madam Huang helped Zhao Qianci out of the carriage.

Huang was also helpless about Zhao Qianci's tendency to fail exams.

Therefore, we can only proceed step by step.

She quickly stepped forward and, upon seeing the person on the tall horse, Huang nodded politely before quickly checking Zhao Qingyan for any wounds.

He was relieved to see that Zhao Qingyan was alright.

That's when I remembered to bring the old man down with me.

Zhao Qianci is a bit odd; he knows perfectly well that he's cursed with bad luck.

Upon getting out of the car and seeing this group of wild boars, their eyes lit up.

This is nothing but meat! Just as he was about to walk towards the nearest wild boar, he heard Huang shout, "Stop!"